copula
(ˈkɒpjuːlə)
[a. L. cōpula, f. co(m)- together ap-ĕre to fasten, fit, with dim. suffix.]
1. Logic and Gram. That part of a proposition which connects the subject and predicate; the present tense of the verb to be (with or without a negative) employed as a mere sign of predication.
| 1650 Vind. Hammond's Addr. §62. 25 It belongs to the Copula, or word (Is.). 1668 Wilkins Real Char. ii. i. §6. 46 Not properly one simple part of speech, but rather a mixture of two, namely the Predicate and Copula. 1725 Watts Logic ii. i, A proposition is usually denominated affirmative or negative from its copula. 1846 Mill Logic i. i. § 2 The Copula is the sign denoting that there is an affirmation or denial. 1887 Fowler Deduct. Logic ii. ii. 25. |
2. gen. A connexion; a link.
| 1656 Hardy 1st Ep. John (1865) 185/1 This [faith] brings, as it were, the Copula, that which knits Christ and the Christian together. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Lit. Wks. (Bohn) II. 109 No copula had been detected between any cause and effect either in physics or in thought. |
3. Anat. A part (e.g. a bone, cartilage, or ligament) connecting other parts.
| 1681 tr. Willis' Rem. Med. Wks. Vocab., Copula, a joyning or fastning together, fettering. 1851–60 Mayne Expos. Lex., Copula, old term for a ligament. 1878 Bell Gegenbauer's Comp. Anat. 469 As a rule its [the hyoid arch's] copula is increased in size and affords a support for the tongue. 1882 Syd. Soc. Lex., Copula magna cerebri, a synonym of the Corpus callosum. |
4. A coupler in the organ.
| 1852 Seidel Organ 67 The copula is that contrivance by which two or more key-boards are so connected, that if the one is played upon, the other acts at the same time. |
5. Mus. A short connecting passage; = codetta, conduit 7; a ‘link’.
| 1880 Ouseley in Grove Dict. Mus. I. 568/1 A few notes to connect the subject and answer..Such connecting notes are named the Codetta, conduit, or copula. |
6. Sexual union. [A term of Roman Law.]
| 1864 Ld. Chancellor (in Times 8 June), Supposing this promise to be given in England in writing: ‘When we go back to Edinburgh I will marry you;’ and, on the faith of this, copula follows in Scotland. |